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Ag Secretary Welcomed Into State Nursery/Landscape Hall of Fame
 
For Immediate Release: November 11, 1999 Contact:

Hope Gruzlovic
(609)292-8896
hope.gruzlovic@ag.state.nj.us

     
Ag Secretary Welcomed Into State Nursery/Landscape Hall of Fame New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Art Brown, Jr., was inducted into the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association (NJNLA) Hall of Fame this month. This is the highest honor NJNLA bestows and is presented to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary service to in the field of horticulture, the nursery/landscape/garden center industry, and NJNLA, during the length of his/her career.

In presenting the award, NJNLA president Peter Haran said that Brown had charted a course for taking Garden State agriculture into the 21st Century, "a course focused on marketing, farmland preservation, soil & water conservation, and animal and plant disease prevention." Under Brown's leadership, NJDA set national marketing standards with its award-winning Jersey Fresh program which has expanded its coverage to include the Garden State's nursery/landscape industry. Haran noted Brown's strong support for the needs of the nursery/landscape/garden center businesses during drought and other natural disasters and credited Brown with developing one of the most successful nursery industry recycling programs in the nation. NJNLA also praised the development of NJDA's soil & water conservation program during Brown's tenure and applauded his tireless efforts to retain a strong, viable agriculture industry in New Jersey. Born in Fulton, New York and raised on a Massachusetts dairy farm, Brown earned a bachelor of science degree in animal science from the University of Massachusetts and a master's degree in horticulture from Cook College. Before becoming Secretary of Agriculture in 1982, Brown worked as a county agriculture agent for 11 years and attained professorship at Cook College. Brown currently serves as chair of the Agricultural Research Task Force of the National Association of State Department of Agriculture; chairman of the United States Department of Agriculture's Census Advisory Committee; and chairman of both the New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee and the State Soil Conservation Committee. He is also a trustee of the Southern New Jersey Development Council and a member of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Brown is a member of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, the New Jersey Agricultural Museum, the New Jersey District Export Council of the United Stated Department of Commerce, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the New Jersey State Planning Commission.

In 1996 he received the President's Award from the US Harness Writers Association and in 1995 he was name Horseman of the Year by the New Jersey Horse Council.